" I ’m a instructor and make a dot to expect girls to overturn stuff . I ’ll say , ' I necessitate two strong helpers — okay , Olivia and Grace , thank you ! ' "
From fending off mid-conversationinterruptionsto dreaming of walking down the street without beingmanslammed, most women can agree that sexism doesn’t exist only on the macro scale, but also in the interpersonal interactions that happen every day. Which is why “micro-feminism,” i.e., small, intentional acts of resisting everyday gender inequities, is super, super important.
So when TikTok usersfromhaustohomeandprairiegaysgovaskedpeople tosharetheir favorite human action of microfeminism , so many of the answers were creative , achievable , and frankly inspiring .
So here are 22 clever and achievable acts of micro-feminism you can integrate into your day-to-day life.
1.“Ever since I learned that women tend to move out of men’s way when walking towards each other, I have deliberately not altered my path for any man.”
2.“I’m a teacher and make a point to ask girls to lift stuff. I’ll say, ‘I need two strong helpers — okay, Olivia and Grace, thank you!’ 🫶”
— aspacekase
3.“I refer to men’s sports as ‘men’s basketball,’ ‘men’s soccer,’ etc.”
4.“I’m a travel agent — I always attach the infant’s name to the father instead of the mother, so the father has to have the baby on their lap instead of on her’s.”
— kateburke01
5.“During the election, I would subtly correct people who referred to the candidates as ‘Kamala vs. Trump.’ I’d say either ‘Harris vs. Trump’ or ‘Kamala vs. Donald.'”
6.“I own a blue-collar company, and I make a point to ask the males if they spoke with their wives to see if the work is being done correctly before approving the quote. Their reactions are so fun.”
— chelseamurphy06
7.“Our wedding invitations were addressed as ‘Mrs. and Mr. Jane Smith.'”
8.“I tell people to ‘woman up’ when I need them to exhibit strength, perseverance, and resilience.”
— hira88 _
9.“I call sports’ jerseys ‘costumes.'”
10.“On real estate contracts, I always list the woman as the ‘seller’ or ‘buyer’ and the husband as ‘spouse.'”
— biancajcreative
11.And similarly, “I worked at my state’s DMV. Whenever I titled a vehicle with multiple owners, I always put the woman first.”
12.“I’m an early childhood educator. When a child is sick, I always call the dad first.”
— leaeireau
13.“I default to saying ‘she/her’ on everything when unsure of the gender. So if someone mentions their doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc., I’ll say, ‘What did she say?’ When I had daughters, I realized how much I defaulted to saying ‘he,’ so I switched!”
14.“Whenever I hear someone use the term ‘girls’ when referring to professional women, I’ll loudly and sincerely ask, ‘Wait, they hire minors there??'”
— cybermoesd
15.“No hate to Travis Kelce, but when I am around misogynists, I refer to him as ‘Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.’ 💅🏻”
16.“A colleague told me to smile. I said, ‘You first.’ After he smiled, I said, ‘Good boy’ and walked away.”
— shenagh1984
17.“Whenever I hear ‘girl boss,’ I say ‘no, just boss.’ Or if I hear ‘female owner,’ I say, ‘no she’s just an owner.'”
18.“I’ll only use the word ‘gals’ instead of ‘guys’ to refer to a group of people. If a man challenges me and says ‘gals’ isn’t a gender neutral term but ‘guys’ is, I’ll ask him how many ‘guys’ he’s slept with.”
— beththomson2
19.“I’m a server and whenever a couple is sharing food, I always put the salad closer to the man and the meat or pasta or whatever in front of the woman.”
20.“I’m a sports announcer. If a woman is behind, I make a point to say she is ‘chasing down’ or ‘attacking’ the person in front of her. If a man is behind, I like to say he is ‘working hard to catch up.’ 😅”
— tzayna
21.“I like to say, ‘male policewoman’ and ‘male firewoman’ etc., with a fully flat affect.”
22.And lastly, “I introduce hetero couples like, ‘This is Sally. She’s a Marketing Manager running a successful, award-winning marketing agency. And this is her partner, Steve. He’s a male mechanic.'”
— ink_by_susie
There you have it: 22 examples of “micro-feminism.” Do you think you would incorporate any of these in your day-to-day? Or do you have any examples of your own that you’ve found to be particularly successful?
Note : Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity .
